Dredging apparatus



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J. B. QUINN.

DRBDGING, APPARATUS.

No. 496,699. Patented May 2, 1893.

WITNESSES:

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(No Mbdel.) I 4 Shets-Sheet 2.

J. B. QUINN. I DRBDGING APPARATUS.

No. 496,699. I Patented May 2,1893.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Patented May 2, 1893.

J. B. QUINN.- I DREDGING APPARATUS.

(No Model.)

WITNESSES: Mm va (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet J; B. QUINN. DREDGING APPARATUS.

No. 496,699. Patented May 2, 1893 I) -J WITNESSES. INVENTOI? 8) AAA V ATTORNEYS.

m0 w a UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES BAIRD QUINN, OF NEIV ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

DREDGING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,699, dated May 2, 1893.

Application filed November 15, 1892. Serial No. 452,082. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES BAIRD QUINN, of New Orleans,in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and Improved Dredging Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in dredging apparatus; and the object of my invention is to produce a comparatively simple apparatus which may be driven with a relatively small expenditure of power, which is adapted to operate continuously, is constructed so that there are no joints or bearings subjected to abrasion by the grit stirred up by dredging, and which is provided with dredging buckets constructed so as to be extremely durable and efiective and to automatically discharge their loads at the correct time.

A further object of myinvention is to produce a dredger to which power may be conveniently applied, which can be perfectly controlled, may be worked in a slight sea if necessary, which may be made to excavate a wide channel, and which is adapted to excavate its own flotation.

To these ends my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views,

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the apparatus embodying my invention, the excavating wheel being shown as arranged to swing in a vertical plane, although in-pract-ice its axis is always at an angle to the horizontal. Fig. 2 is a broken plan view of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the apparatus showing the excavating wheel in position for use; and Fig. 4 is a broken side elevation,showing the excavating wheel tipped up into a horizontal position; that is, with its axis in a vertical plane, in which position it is adapted to be moved about. a

A swinging frame 10 is hinged to a suitable vessel or float 12, as shown at 11, and hung centrally in the frame is a large excavating wheel 13, the axle 14 of which has its outer end journaled in the frame, as shown best in Fig. 3, and its inner end j0ur naled in a pendent hanger 15 which is hinged to the float or vessel 12, as shown at 16. This method of hanging the wheel permits it to be tilted in any necessary position, and by using the pendent hanger to support the axle, the wheel is dropped so as to make a deep excavation in proportion to its diameter. The wheel is provided with suitable hubs 17 and the rim of the wheel is connected with the hubs by spokes 18, and the wheel is further braced by cross braces 19 and a circumferential brace 20. On the face of the wheel are excavating buckets 21 which are placed at regular intervals and these buckets have no individual bottoms, this function being performed by the inclined rim or bottom 22 which extends around the wheel and which forms a section of a cone whose apex is coincident with the axis of the wheel. The wheel is divided by radial partitions 24: into a series of cells 23, there being a cell for each pair of buckets, and 'these cells are adapted to contain the material lifted by the wheel. The material, if of a sufficient consistency, may be held in the cells without any side support, but where it is inclined to run from the cells too quickly it is retained by shut- -ters which will be hereinafter described.

The wheel is provided with a band or rim 25 which serves the function. of a pulley and over which runs a driving cable or belt 26 which is carried several times around the rim or band and which also is wound the same number of times around a driving drum 27, which drum is carried by a shaft 28, see Fig. 2, arranged parallel with the axle 14 of the wheel, this shaft being journaled at one end in the frame 10 and at the other in a swivel bearing 28 on the float or vessel 12.

The drum 27 is driven by beveled gearing comprising the wheels 29, 30 and 31, the wheels 29 and 30 being carried by a shaft whose axis is coincident with the axis of the hinges 11 and intersects the axis of the drum 27. The gear wheel 31 is carried by a driving shaft 32 which extends atright angles to the shaft of the wheels 29 and 30 and turns in suitable hangers 33, the shaft being driven by any suitable power.

The driving cable 26 is made to extend outward over guide pulleys '34 and 35 which are journaled in suitable supports 36, see Fig. 2, and the cable extends over a tension pulley 37 which is coupled to a rod 38 and the necessary tension is given to the pulley by means of weights, springs, or other equivalent de-- vices. The mechanism just described forms a very convenient way of driving the wheel 13, as it permits the wheel to be tipped at any angle and to be continuously operated, but it will be understood that any suitable driving mechanism may be employed without departing from the principle of my invention.

The excavating wheel 13 is raised and lowered; that is, it is swung on its transverse axis by means of an ordinary tackle 39 which is hooked to an eye 40 on the frame 10 and also supported on a suitable timber or other convenient support 41. The apparatus is also provided with a boom derrick 42 which has the usual tackle 43 at its free end and which is suspended in the ordinary way by another tackle 44. By means of this derrick, bowlders and other heavy obstructions may be removed, and the derrick may also be used in maneuvering the wheel.

When the wheel is operated it is placed at an angle to the vessel 12, as shown in Fig. 3, and the excavated material is discharged over a guide 45 and upon a band carrier 45 which is of the usual kind and forms no part of my invention. This band carrier, however, should have its bearing rollers 46, see Fig. 3, dished so as to give a concave carrying surface to the band or belt and thus enable the material to be carried off without spilling. As before remarked, if this material is .of certain consistency, it will be retained in the cells until they reach the upper part of the wheel, and where this is not the case a shutter 47 is used, the shutter being only shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The shutter is placed opposite the cells 23 on the inboard side of the wheel and extends from a point near the upper portion of the wheel to a point near its lower portion, the shutter being curved so as to correspond with the curve of the wheel. It is provided with back braces 48 and is hinged to the vessel 12, as shown at 49, its axis being coincident with the transverse axis of the wheel 13, and consequently it may oscillate with the wheel.

It will be seen that when the wheel is turned and the material carried upward to the cells, the material will be held in place by the shutter until the cells reach a point above it, at which point the inclination of the floor 22 of the cells, together with the inclination of the wheel, causes the material to slide outward upon the carrier 45 and it is conveyed by the carrier to any desired point of discharge. It will be understood that instead of the car-. rier, chutes or equivalent devices may beused.

Instead of the shutter 47, plates 47 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1 may be used to partially close the cells and retain the excavated material therein and in practice said plates will be detachably secured to the wheel itself. To still further expedite the discharge of the excavated material water may be used as a lubricator, and provision is made for supplying the water by running a supply pipe 50 along a suitable support above the wheel and providing the pipe with cock-controlled jet pipes 51 which are arranged to discharge into the buckets 21 and cells 23. As shown in the drawings the supply pipe 50 is supported upon the roof 52 of the vessel, but the pipe may be carried upon any convenient support. The dredge as a whole is maneuveredin the same manner as the ordinary chain bucket dredge by mooring lines operated by steam Winches or analogous devices which it is not necessary to illustrate.

In operation the dredge is moored in the required place, the excavating wheel 13 is swung downward so as to bring its buckets in contact with the bottom, and power is then applied through the gearing described above; as the wheel turns it will continuously raise the material from the bottom and discharge it upon the carrier 45 in the manner described. It will be noticed that the gearing is such that the wheel may be operated at any necessary angle, and consequently it may be guided by means of the tackle 39 and frame 10 without stopping the wheel.

It will be seen that the construction described is of the most substantial character, and that there is nothing about the appara* tus to get easily out of repair.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A dredging apparatus comprising a suitable support, and a laterally swinging exca vating wheel hinged to said support, and means for adjusting the wheel at any desired angle to the support, substantially as set forth.

2. A dredging apparatus, comprisinga revoluble wheel hinged to a support and provided with a driving band, a plurality of spaced peripheral excavating buckets, and a plurality of cells arranged within and concentric with the buckets, the cells having a common bottom with an inboard inclination, substantially as described.

3. A dredging apparatus, comprising a revoluble wheel hinged to a suitable support and provided with a driving band, a plurality of spaced peripheral excavating buckets, a plurality of cells arranged concentric with the buckets and having a floor with an inboard inclination, and a carrier arranged to receive the material discharged by the cells, substantially as described.

4. A dredging apparatus, comprising a revoluble excavating wheel hinged to a support and provided with peripheral buckets and a plurality of cells arranged to receive excavated material from the buckets, the cells having inwardly extending inclined bottoms, and a hinged shutter carried by the support and arranged opposite the discharging sides of the cells, substantially as described.

5. A dredging apparatus comprising a support, a vertically swinging frame hinged at its inner edge to said support, an excavating wheel carried by the frame with its axis extending at right angles to the frame axis, mechanism for raisin g and lowering the frame to give the wheel any desired angle to the support, and a driving mechanism for said wheel, substantially as set forth.

6. A dredging apparatus, comprising a revoluble wheel hinged to a support and provided with peripheral excavating buckets and with discharge cells arranged concentric with the buckets, and a series of jet pipes arranged to deliver water into a portion of the buckets, substantially as described.

7. A dredging apparatus, comprising a swinging frame hinged to a support, an excajournaled in the free side of the frame and the other end of the axle journaled in a pendent hanger hinged to the support, substantially as described.

JAMES BAIRDQUINN. Witnesses:

A. B. ROBERT, FREDERIC CAMoRs. s 

